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Did you even read the article? The reason the Ugandan government is blocking these apps is with the intent, as the article suggests, of stopping misinformation

Did you even read the article? The reason the Ugandan government is blocking these apps is with the intent, as the article suggests, of stopping misinformation through "citizen journalism", not because the nation of Uganda suddenly had fears of Google or Apple moderating their nation's discourse. Furthermore, the article goes on to say that this kind of block has occurred before in 2016.

eunos 6y ago
I am talking in a more general term. And also they do want ability impose sovereignty upon the narrative. That include the ability to prevent Silicon Valley companies propagate narrative that is not compatible with the sovereign.
- digdigdag 6y ago
  No one is forcing you to use "Silicon Valley" products. There's already a precedent set in the courts when a bakery refused to offer service to a gay couple because of personal beliefs. Likewise, Twitter et. al. are simply following the same precedent set to enforce their values in the products they offer. The social media app is not public square and no one is certainly entitled to use it.
  - eunos 6y ago
    Again I'm talking from sovereign point of view. You don't want Silicon Valley companies to control your country's information flow. There's no guarantee that those companies won't ban the account of government apparatus for whatever reason.
permo-w 6y ago
There’s a real flood of people on HN right now who really want to fight this battle. It’s unpleasant because it’s the kind of thing I use Hacker News to avoid Even though I know it’ll just cement their viewpoints even further, I’m hoping the mods do something about it
- nromiun 6y ago
  > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. No one is flooding HN. A lot of us are non-American and programmers who understand what the recent events will mean in geopolitics. Everyone can see that GP was talking about what this move will mean in general terms. Don't assume we are trolls just because you don't like our comments.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    The article is about government censorship. However, if you read the comments people are interpreting the title as if Google and Apple did something wrong. They make up random theories about the economic benefits of internet firewalls, the "evil" desire of western corporations to influence Ugandan politics and just the general idea of sharing culture among Uganda and the rest of the world being a net negative for Uganda. People who know about Ugandan history are acutely aware of how deep in a pit they started off and how much of it was purely internal. It was similar to China suppressing their Muslim population except it was against political enemies and the Ugandan government wasn't afraid to kill someone (100s of thousands) on a whim. Comparing this type of suffering with Google's and Apple's worst crimes is just laughable.
    - nromiun 6y ago
      True, the article is about govt censorship. But my (and others) point is that this type of censorship is going to increase. And its partly because of western corporations' willingness to censor anyone they want. Recently Twitter and Facebook (two of the biggest Western corporations in the world) abruptly cut off the biggest politician in the world. It was the first page headline for several days all over the world. Do you think govts are going to just ignore that? And to be clear, I am not talking about any crimes. I am talking about censorship and power. It is now clear that Twitter and Facebook will censor anyone they want and that is a clear threat to the power of govts all over the world. (For example SWIFT network alternatives developed by Russia and China for similar reasons.)

eunos 6y ago

I am talking in a more general term. And also they do want ability impose sovereignty upon the narrative. That include the ability to prevent Silicon Valley companies propagate narrative that is not compatible with the sovereign.

digdigdag 6y ago
No one is forcing you to use "Silicon Valley" products. There's already a precedent set in the courts when a bakery refused to offer service to a gay couple because of personal beliefs. Likewise, Twitter et. al. are simply following the same precedent set to enforce their values in the products they offer. The social media app is not public square and no one is certainly entitled to use it.
- eunos 6y ago
  Again I'm talking from sovereign point of view. You don't want Silicon Valley companies to control your country's information flow. There's no guarantee that those companies won't ban the account of government apparatus for whatever reason.

permo-w 6y ago

There’s a real flood of people on HN right now who really want to fight this battle. It’s unpleasant because it’s the kind of thing I use Hacker News to avoid Even though I know it’ll just cement their viewpoints even further, I’m hoping the mods do something about it

nromiun 6y ago
> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. No one is flooding HN. A lot of us are non-American and programmers who understand what the recent events will mean in geopolitics. Everyone can see that GP was talking about what this move will mean in general terms. Don't assume we are trolls just because you don't like our comments.
- imtringued 6y ago
  The article is about government censorship. However, if you read the comments people are interpreting the title as if Google and Apple did something wrong. They make up random theories about the economic benefits of internet firewalls, the "evil" desire of western corporations to influence Ugandan politics and just the general idea of sharing culture among Uganda and the rest of the world being a net negative for Uganda. People who know about Ugandan history are acutely aware of how deep in a pit they started off and how much of it was purely internal. It was similar to China suppressing their Muslim population except it was against political enemies and the Ugandan government wasn't afraid to kill someone (100s of thousands) on a whim. Comparing this type of suffering with Google's and Apple's worst crimes is just laughable.
  - nromiun 6y ago
    True, the article is about govt censorship. But my (and others) point is that this type of censorship is going to increase. And its partly because of western corporations' willingness to censor anyone they want. Recently Twitter and Facebook (two of the biggest Western corporations in the world) abruptly cut off the biggest politician in the world. It was the first page headline for several days all over the world. Do you think govts are going to just ignore that? And to be clear, I am not talking about any crimes. I am talking about censorship and power. It is now clear that Twitter and Facebook will censor anyone they want and that is a clear threat to the power of govts all over the world. (For example SWIFT network alternatives developed by Russia and China for similar reasons.)